Wednesday, March 4. 2009

Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.TS Eliot

“Because those affected don’t have to steal to fund their habit, but instead get the drugs from the health service, their plight goes largely unnoticed by society. But the social cost of family breakdowns and individual impairment is immense.”Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, 2004

DWP Government White Paper for Welfare reform Bill December 2008Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future

‘We need to develop a benefits system that enables and empowers individuals to take control of their lives and treats each customer as an individual, with their own varied routes back into employment. This would be a benefits system that doesn’t merely catch people, but propels them forwards.’

Welfare Reform BillSecond Reading27 Jan 2009 : Column 194

Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab/Co-op): Will the Secretary of State clarify whether the Bill takes account of individuals who are addicted to tranquillisers and prescription drugs? An estimated 1.5 million people have been on these agents for many years; I know one individual who has been on them for 45 years. Surely it would be cost-effective for the Government to look into helping to get these people into work.

James Purnell: I know that my hon. Friend is talking to the Department of Health about this matter. This particular provision focuses on the drugs that cause the greatest amount of crime in the system—crack cocaine and opiates—so my hon. Friend’s point is not an issue in this Bill. I know that he has pursued it elsewhere.

My Comment:The benzo scandal is not just about getting benzo-affected people back to work it is about the fact that so many have been ignored, rejected and left to rot on benefits for decades. Now it suits politicians to look at welfare. Those people who were rejected, ignored and left to rot are to be resurrected and looked at in the same way as everyone else, and the fact that they were rejected, ignored and left to rot is not an issue for the DWP, no matter what their age and realistic job prospects